Troy Parrott

Given Parrott is Irish, comparisons with Robbie Keane are obvious but he has displayed glimpses of the former Spurs striker’s movement, eye for goal and hold up-play. Parrott shares the same football agency as Harry Kane and Tottenham’s hope is that his career trajectory can replicate the England captain’s.

Parrott ended last season with 14 goals in nine Under-18 Premier League matches, three in five Uefa Youth League games and two for the under-23s. Notable among them was a stunning strike against Inter Milan in November, 2018. An Italian television company who covered the match compiled a DVD of Parrott and the commentator can be heard calling him “Parratta”.

The striker has a strong work ethic, which is imperative for Pochettino, who gave him the experience of travelling with the first-team squad to Leicester City for a league match in December. A month later the Tottenham manager promoted the youngster into the first-team training and began to mention him in the same breath as Oliver Skipp and other academy players who would get a chance.

Parrott grew up as a Liverpool supporter and was raised in north Dublin’s gritty inner city. He went to O’Connell School and played for Belvedere in the Dublin Schoolboys League. Kwame Ampadu, who played for Arsenal, the father of the Chelsea player Ethan, and Ken Gillard, who played for Luton Town, played for the same school and team. Gillard is now Under-18 coach at Arsenal.

Parrott’s family are neighbours with Wes Hoolahan, who also came through at Belvedere. The club have also produced Stephen Kelly, the former Tottenham right back, Matt Doherty, of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Speaking about his childhood, Parrott has said: “My mother couldn’t get me in off the street every day. Whether I was out on the road or in the local park with my mates, I enjoyed having the ball at my feet.”

He joined Belvedere around the age of eight and a big influence on his career was Vincent Butler, the club’s director of football affairs and founding member. At the request of the manager Parrott played for a team one year above his age but when he was 12 Belvedere moved him back into his natural group. Regardless of age group he scored goals for Belvedere and the Dublin & District Schoolboys League representative team.

Butler arranged for a trial with Everton, who were the first team to take notice. Parrott, then 13, was invited to play for Everton in a four-team tournament in County Antrim in 2015. Parrott was superb. He scored twice and was tripped for a penalty against Rangers. He got up and handed the ball to a team-mate who converted the spot kick. Butler recalls what Parrott told him when he asked why he did not take the penalty, “He said, ‘that young lad laid on two goals for me and I felt I needed to do something for him so I told him to take it.’

“That is his whole attitude. He is a nice lad with a great heart. He tore apart Rangers.”

Scouts were in attendance at the tournament but had specifically gone to watch a different player. And being from Northern Ireland, they were unaware of Parrott until then. They were seemingly impressed and phoned their Dublin counterparts who passed on the news to the English clubs they represented. Hours later Butler’s phone started to ring with clubs wanting to know about Parrott.

The striker had several trials at Manchester City, plus spent time at Aston Villa and Celtic. Nothing came of them and in the summer of 2017 Butler was approached by McGuigan. McGuigan immediately arranged for Parrott to travel for a trial with Tottenham who were taking part in a youth tournament in Belgium in June. Usually clubs have wound down for the summer at that time and do not run trials but Tottenham went the extra mile.

After the trial Butler received a call from John McDermott, the Tottenham academy manager, “He said, ‘Within ten minutes of arriving Parrott was on speaking terms with everyone and everyone like him’.”

By then Parrott was attracting wider interest. Leipzig wanted him and Chelsea were keen but Tottenham’s initiative helped to secure his signature.

Butler used to manage Ireland Under-15 and Under-16 between 1996 and 2009. He has been to London to check on Parrott’s progress at Tottenham, “With some you can tell from nine or ten, with Troy it didn’t become clear just how good he was until he was around 12 and that’s when we realised,” he says. “Now he is big, strong, skilful and very brave. He never stops running, he chases everything down. He is very level-headed.”

In Ireland Parrott is already seen as their most exciting prospect since Keane. In 2017 he played for three different age groups. He scored and assisted another for the Under-15s in two games against Holland and led the Under-17 side to the quarter-finals of the European Championship in May 2018, scoring three in four games at the finals in England. In attendance for some matches was David Pleat, the former Tottenham manager, who now advises the club on the best youth players.

Martin O’Neill watched Parrott when he was Ireland manager and predicted great things. Mick McCarthy, his successor, might fast-track him in the autumn if he continues his progress. “We have to be careful with Troy Parrott,” Keane has said in the Irish Times. “A couple of us here have to be careful not to pigeonhole him with being the next me and all of that. He’s Troy Parrott so we have to let him develop as a young player. Has he got ability? Absolutely. I speak to Pochettino all the time and he loves him. He definitely has potential but then he’s just turned 17; I know I got thrown in at 17 but he’s still young and he’s had a lot of attention. People at Tottenham love him. He’s a lovely lad, he definitely has the mentality, he has everything so he certainly has a chance but it’s up to him.”

Parrott has just started his journey and has the determination to make it a positive one.